Myakotin V.A. (1867-1937), historian, public and political figure

MYAKOTIN Venedikt Alexandrovich (1867, Gatchina - 1937), historian, essayist, public and political figure. Graduated from Kronstadt Gymnasium and the Faculty of History and Philology of St. Petersburg University, continued his studies there, and later was awarded professorship. In 1891-1900, Myakotin lectured on Russian history in various educational establishments, including the Alexandrovsky Lyceum and the Military Justice Academy. Since 1893, he contributed to Russkoe Bogatstvo Journal and became a member of its editorial staff in 1904. Myakotin was a member of the board of the Liberation Union and the Committee for Preparation of the Banquet Campaign in the autumn of 1904 and rendered assistance to the Party of Socialist Revolutionaries. He was arrested repeatedly and sent out of St. Petersburg. On the eve of the Bloody Sunday, he, as a member of a delegation of St. Petersburg intelligentsia, tried to avert the tragedy by negotiating with the authorities. In the early 1905, Myakotin took part in the establishment of the Union of Writers and Journalists and the Union of Unions. He was one of the organisers and leaders of People's Socialist Party (1906) and the Working Group in the First State Duma. During the First World War of 1914-18, Myakotin supported the defence stand. After the February Revolution of 1917, he was appointed chairman of the Central Committee of Working People's Socialist Party, and advocated a coalition of liberal and democratic forces, standing up for an absolute rule of the Provisional Government and continuation of the war. After October 1917, Myakotin was one of the organisers and leaders of the anti-Bolshevist Union for the Revival of Russia. In the late 1918, moved to the south of Russia. In August 1920, Myakotin was arrested by Soviet authorities, brought to Moscow, and then, in the late 1922, exiled from Russia without the right to return. In 1928, he was appointed professor at Sophia University. Myakotin authored works on the history of Russia and Ukraine. Died in Prague.